An Eighth Shot of Espresso: Coffee and Creativity on Mum's Third Shift

What does  your fortune tell you?  Do you believe   in that sort of thing?  My Chinese grandmother  consults the Tao Te Ching  my best friend pulls out  her tarot cards  Do the stars  really shape  who you become? Is it all already written? Or do you struggle against the flow of time and defy the tide of a concrete fate?

whimsical humor  suppressed for years  I was too frivolous too loud and too obnoxious way too much for such a quiet and retiring personality there was too much to do bills to pay children to raise jobs to perform I learned not to laugh so loud or stand out in a crowd because that made him uncomfortable but now that more  than five decades have passed I've decided that  I am too old  to not enjoy life  and become  the person I was  meant to be

blood is life  and an obligation  when loyalty  is placed above reason  the family banner  unfurls over your existence  and casts a long shadow  an intangible sense of honor becomes all encompassing and a way to ensure power is in the correct hands when your fate is already written in the stars how do your actions make a difference? At least that's what they tell you. Only when the balance tips way too far and life becomes too intolerable do things change A righteous tradition  is not always a just one.

lambent light  from the glowing lantern  it lifts the shadows  lingering on the path  so late at night. look beyond the trees and do not laugh lest the ghosts beyond  who are lost to time  leave a lasting impression.

Too many books  too few shelves piled up on the floor on the living room table so many pages to read husband sighs  looks at the pile  of new books  on the nightstand  he jokes at how  orphaned tomes just leap into my hands  because they somehow know  I will give them a good home.

He regaled us with his tales  as the snow fell outside  the fire crackled in the hearth  as we all sat in utter delight  at the tales he spun to entertain us all. We waited with bated breath the heroes on their journey in fantastical lands of light and dark their struggle against good and bad we cheered at all their victories. A story with song and voice resonating off the walls and rafters a magical performance that is not easily forgotten and remembered fondly at every chilly night.